A Blockchain-powered Solution for Sports Predictions: Interview with the CEO of BlitzPredict.

Blockchain has most of the times been associated with cryptocurrencies. But it has become obvious that the technology can be used beyond finance and transaction recording down to the Sports predictions market as we will see in the BlitzPredict project. The CEO Brett Richey will be discussing this further with us in this Interview.

1) Please tell us your name and about yourself?

I’m Brett Richey – CEO of BlitzPredict. I’m a former professional poker player who previously founded a consumer mobile startup for FanDuel and DraftKings users. It was only a matter of time until I found my way to the blockchain.

2) What is BlitzPredict?

BlitzPredict is a blockchain-powered solution for sports bettors and esports bettors. We provide analytics, tools, and verifiably accurate information to help give bettors an edge.

3) What is the technology behind BlitzPredict?

A combination of traditional technologies and blockchain technology. Given the scalability of Ethereum and other blockchains, it’s not realistic to build a consumer-facing product entirely on-chain at this point. We use blockchain technology to verify and ensure the most important parts of our platform.

4) What are the Services you provide at BlitzPredict?

Our current platform offers an odds aggregator, ensuring our users can access the best odds available in the marketplace. We also offer a roster of experts offering predictions on upcoming sporting events. Expert predictions on the BlitzPredict platform are recorded to the Ethereum blockchain, timestamped against true market odds. This ensures that an expert’s record can never be manipulated – they can never delete losses from their record or claim they got a price that never existed.

5) What is the market size of Blockchain in Sports Gambling and what benefits will BlitzPredict bring to this market?

It’s difficult to gauge the current size of the blockchain sports gambling market but hundreds of billions are estimated to be wagered each year in the global sports betting market.

The benefits BlitzPredict brings apply to both blockchain sports betting markets as well as traditional, and currently include transparent verifiable predictions as well as an odds aggregator to ensure our users always get the best odds.

We are developing smart contract betting, allowing our users to execute wagers when certain criteria are met (e.g. If the Patriots are -7, a user can set up a smart contract to execute a wager if the line reaches -6). We are developing a liquidity reserve so users’ funds aren’t tied up for long periods of times.

One of the features we are most excited for is the Augur integration that we are currently developing – this will allow our users a more efficient way to interact with blockchain prediction markets.

6) What is a liquidity reserve and what are the advantages to the BlitzPredict users?

The BlitzPredict Liquidity Reserve will allow our users to collect their winnings immediately after an event is completed – without waiting for a sportsbook to transfer winnings or for reporters to confirm the results as valid on the blockchain.

7) At what stage of development is the BlitzPredict project and what are your business targets from now till 2020?

Our platform is currently live with a functional use of our XBP token. We are building out our Augur implementation and aim to launch that by the end of the year.

Once Augur is live on our platform, we will focus our efforts on building more advanced features for our users to interact with the markets.

Our main business goal is user acquisition – we want to increase adoption of blockchain technology, specifically the Augur protocol.

8) Could you tell us about your team and customer support?

We are a team of 9, including 6 full-time developers, a head of operations, head of esports, and myself. We also have two part-time customer support reps and a part-time UI designer.

9) How Safe is BlitzPredict, would you like to talk about your legal and security measures?

We take security very seriously – security comes before all else in the blockchain world. We made sure to get our smart contracts audited and we have taken industry-standard approaches to security across the board. We have worked closely with our lawyers every step of the way and will continue to do so going forward.

10) Do you have more information for our readers?

That’s about it! Sign up at blitzpredict.io and follow us on social media for more information as we progress on our journey.